Neosho town hall meeting set for tonight

Neosho residents will have the chance to learn more about their city government at a town hall meeting set for 6 p.m. this evening.

The quarterly town hall meeting will be held at the Neosho Golf Course Clubhouse, 1850 Clubhouse Road.

Neosho Mayor Richard Davidson will host the meeting, and said he plans to present an overview of city matters and upcoming city projects, as well as open the meeting to questions from members of the public.

Davidson said his presentation will include a review of the city's new $16.3 million budget.

Council gave final approval to the budget on Sept. 17, and the budget went into effect on Oct. 1.

"Very similar to what I did a year ago after the budget was approved, I'm going to go through some of the budget highlights," Davidson said. "How spending changed from 2013 to 2014, as well as a comparison of revenues. I'm going to touch on the city's debt and how our refinancing of debt has helped us with our payments."

He said he would also show the city's old payment schedule and new payment schedule.

Davidson also plans to discuss a few of the city's major projects from the last year.

"I'm just going to touch on some things we've seen happen in the city in the last year or so, including the stair renovation, the resurfacing of roads by Walmart last fall, and talk a little bit about the wrap-up of the water quality project with the improvements at the water treatment plant, and the airport lighting project," he said.

Davidson said he will also review the city's upcoming projects, including the work expected to start soon on a stretch of East Spring Street, as well as the street improvement plans scheduled to take place over the next 12 months. As has been the practice in past town hall meetings, Davidson said the second half of the meeting will be open to any other topics the public wishes to discuss.

He said the city first started holding the quarterly town hall meetings in 2010, to educate residents on the financial crisis the city was facing, and to attempt to win voters over on a property tax increase.

While the attempted tax increase failed, Davidson said the city has continued to work to communicate with residents.

"During that conversation, people said 'you only come to us when you want something,'" Davidson said. "So, since that time, we've made a point to go to the voters about every quarter or so and tell them what's going on in the city, not because we want something, but rather because we want them to be educated."